We have mentioned the upcoming auction in Tacoma a couple of times, but this quadruplet of Lancias deserves a mention of their own. Each car represents a different decade of the famed Italian automaker’s past. The 1958 Flaminia is in project form, as is the 1967 Fulvia. Gotta love those Roman inspired names! Makes you wonder if they did the same thing some people do with their kids – like just using names starting with the letter J? Anyway, there’s a decent looking 1979 Zagato and a 1991 Thema to round things off. That last one may not look like much, but take a closer look. Under the hood of that unassuming sedan sits a Ferrrari V8! I’ve never actually seen one of these, but they were apparently good performers when they were new. Initially I wanted the Fulvia, but now I’m thinking the Thema could be a fun daily driver. Which one would you go for? Or would you just nab all four?
I was one of the fortunate ones here in Holland to drive the 8.32, damn what a beast in tuxido. For a car of those years it was fast, the same engine was used in the Ferrari Mondial QT and the Ferrari 308. Several parts of this engine were adjusted and assembled by Ducati.
This car was bloudy expensive and one started to cry when hearing the trade in price at the dealer after even less than one year. Glad it was a company car. Drove it for one and a halve year, exchanged it for a Turbo, but although being a great car too I kept missing the 8.32. And it was not for the spoiler, a great gadget, to me of no big importance. The Turbo was sold when buying a new Kappa 3.0V6 Coupe, followed by a Kappa Wagon with the same engine. Again glad both were company cars.
I really miss the 8.32 but out of the 4 cars I’d go for the Fulvia, a car with great heritage in rally history.
If memory serves me correctly, the Flaminia was named after an old Roman road in Italy (via Flaminia) and so was Fulvia. Fulvia was also a famous Roman aristocrat. Italian car names always seem to have historical significance pertaining to the country.